Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presidency of the United States upon the death of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson inherited a country still divided from the war, and in the face of this he tried to continue the policies of Lincoln with regard to Reconstruction and the revival of the South. As the war ended, Lincoln faced the question of what to do with the states of the defeated Confederacy, an issue that elicited sharp disagreement among Northerners. Some felt that these states should make voters as well as freedmen of their slaves, and Lincoln said the important thing was to get these states back in their proper place in the Union. Lincoln was assassinated before he could do anything at all about the states of the Old South. Andrew Johnson, his successor, gave assurances that he would carry on with Lincoln's Reconstruction program, though he also gave the impression that he would deal more harshly than Lincoln would have with rebel leaders. The murder of Lincoln only added to that attitude. Johnson was opposed by many in Congress, and in an attempt to generate support for his policies he undertook what became known as the "Swing Around the Circle" in 1866, and he was received differently in different states. An examination of records from journals and writings from Kentucky will serve as a means of comparing how Johnson was received in that state as opposed to other states.
Presidential Reconstruction was exemplified first by Lincoln and then by Johnson. The intent was first to provide for an easier transition to an emancipated society, second to restore the states of the South to their place in the Union, and third to develop a program for economic revival. Lincoln had urged the development of a government agency to be charged with creating plans for guided emancipation, but he drafted no plans. Legislation in 1864 directed special Treasury agents to assume control of and lease abandoned lands and to provide these leases f...